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City manager ‘begged’ fired Cincinnati police chief for more officers on street as crime skyrocketed

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Cincinnati’s now-former police chief, once sued by subordinates for alleged discrimination against White male officers, has been fired.

A termination announcement says Teresa Theetge was “begged” to put more officers on the streets during a crime-riddled summer last year. She was from her role as the city’s top law enforcement officer on Thursday after only about three years on the job. She was a police officer in Cincinnati for 35 years.

City Manager Sheryl Long made Theetge’s termination announcement.

“I recognize Chief Theetge’s more than 35 years of service to the Cincinnati Police Department and to this City. At the same time, after completing this review, it’s become clear that a change in leadership is necessary for the department moving forward,” Long said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

Cincinnati Chief of Police Teresa Theetge speaking at a podium

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In a scathing termination letter, Long blasted Theetge for what she viewed as ineffective leadership and poor communication, including failing to adhere to a summer anti-violence plan.

“As just one example, you admitted you did not agree with the City’s Summer Safety Plan, which included more police coverage in the urban core, and you admitted that I begged you to fill the police work details called for in the summer plan.”

Cincinnati found itself under national scrutiny last August after a viral beatdown in the city’s downtown left a woman with neurological damage.

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Cincinnati Police Chief Teresa Theetge speaking at a press conference.

In the early-morning hours of July 26, a confrontation outside the LoVe nightclub, located on the corner of Fourth and Elm Street in the city’s downtown business district, led to a horrific beatdown that was captured on video. 

The video circulated rapidly on social media, sparking fury as at least two White victims were pummeled into the ground by a group of Black suspects. Once on the ground, the suspects did not back off. Instead, they continued to stomp on the victims, one of whom was left with a possibly life-altering brain issue.

Over the course of the next month, seven people were arrested and charged with crimes related to the beating.

Individuals involved in a street brawl in Cincinnati yelling and fighting

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Long also ripped Theetge for two shootings in the Fountain Square area in the city’s downtown last October, saying she “failed to provide leadership in response to two shootings” in the area that month.

“You further admitted that on October 14 (the day after the second shooting) you chose to go to a play rather than attend a public safety town hall meeting…” Long wrote in the termination letter, later adding that Theetge “should not need to be told to attend a public safety meeting … the night after a shooting on Fountain Square.”

In May of last year, four White male officers filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Theetge, who was the city’s first female police chief, saying that they were passed over for promotions and passed over for preferred assignments because of their race and/or sex.

“Defendants’ intentional and discriminatory practices in assigning Lieutenants to preferred assignments has disproportionately favored non-White males and/or females, without legitimate, non-discriminatory justification, thereby denying Plaintiffs equal employment opportunities,” the suit says in part.

Holly posing for a photo indoors

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“The City and Chief Theetge have actively and systemically undertaken efforts to promote, advance, and make promotion and assignment decisions that are preferable to women and minorities, and to the exclusion of white men, including through hiring, diversity initiatives, outreach programs, promotional processes, and other steps that demonstrate both a systemic practice of discrimination against white males, and that there are background circumstances to support the suspicion that the defendant is that unusual employer who discriminates against the majority,” the lawsuit also says.

Theetge’s attorney did not return a request for comment. Neither did Mayor Aftab Pureval’s office.

  

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UC Berkeley slammed after anti-Israel group hosts failed suicide bomber as guest event speaker: ‘cesspool’

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A chapter of a far-left organization at the University of California, Berkeley’s law school capped off a “Palestinian Political Prisoners Day” earlier this week with a message from a failed suicide car bomber who was jailed in Israel for eight years.

UC Berkeley Law Students for Justice Palestine shared a video on its Instagram account from convicted attempted car bomber Israa Jaabis, who thanked her western counterparts for supporting her cause.

“Firstly, I would like to thank [the students] for their attentiveness, for listening with their hearts,” Jaabis said, according to English translated subtitles attached to the video. “For many reasons, even their attendance is enough to make us feel — as liberated Palestinian prisoners — that there is someone who cares about us.”

Israa Jaabis speaking at the 3rd International Al-Aqsa Women's Conference in Istanbul

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Jaabis was jailed in Israel from 2015 to 2023 after attempting to set off a car bomb during a traffic stop. The incident occurred near an area where Israeli soldiers would often gather and attempt to hitchhike. Both Jaabis and the Israeli officer, Moshe Chen, were severely burned during the terror attack.

While in prison, Jaabis made headlines for demanding cosmetic surgery on her badly scarred face. She was released in November 2023 in a prisoner exchange as the Israeli government attempted to free hostages taken by Hamas militants in the Oct. 7, 2023 terror attack.

Palestinian prisoner Israa Jaabis arriving at her home in east Jerusalem

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“There are those who are in solidarity with us, those who support us and do not abandon us,” Jaabis said in the video. “Your attendance — in particular as law students — makes us hopeful that there remains some humanity, that there is someone to support us in the future, delivering our message to the international community and amplifying our call to liberate Palestinian prisoners, as well as to liberate societies from servitude and from bigotry which produces populations complicit in perpetrating inhumane laws.”

Critics on X blasted both the event organizers and UC Berkeley itself.

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“Berkeley being a leftist cesspool is not something that should surprise you,” said one X user.

“Muslims must be laughing at the insane stupidity of the ‘enlightened’ useful idiots here in the West,” said another.

“This stuff keeps me up at night. I don’t understand how the world just rewrites morality to fit it’s political agenda,” said another.

A spokesperson for UC Berkeley Law said the school’s hands were tied.

Pro-Palestinian protesters setting up a tent encampment in front of Sproul Hall at UC Berkeley

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“As a public university, UC Berkeley has a non-discretionary obligation to abide by and support the First Amendment in a completely content neutral manner,” Alex Shapiro, assistant dean of communications, said. “We do not have the legal ability to sanction or censor Constitutionally protected expression.”

“However, as UC Berkeley has repeatedly informed the student body, if any campus community member feels threatened, they are encouraged to contact the Office for the Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination. OPHD provides support to those harmed, investigates all allegations, and the campus takes appropriate steps following any findings.”

  

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Semitruck driver in deadly interstate crash fraudulently obtained license, citizenship: Officials

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Ohio officials say a semitruck driver charged in a fiery interstate crash that killed a young family of three fraudulently obtained an Ohio driver’s license, a commercial driver’s license and later U.S. citizenship under an alternate identity.

The driver, Modou F. Ngom, 50, was arrested after authorities said he caused the April 11 chain-reaction crash on Interstate 71 northbound near U.S. 36, where a semitrailer slammed into slowed traffic in a construction zone and ignited a deadly fire.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol said the crash killed a 37-year-old man, a 36-year-old woman and a 1-year-old child from Ashley, Ohio, who were riding in a Chevrolet Silverado. Three others suffered serious injuries that were not considered life-threatening.

Modou F. Ngom

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In a statement, Ohio Department of Public Safety Director Andy Wilson confirmed to Fox News that investigators with the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles and Ohio State Highway Patrol uncovered conflicting identity information in state and federal records after Ngom’s arrest.

Ngom, he said, entered the United States in the 1990s and used multiple names and dates of birth to obtain state and federal identification documents.

Modou Ngom sitting in cout

Wilson alleged that Ngom fraudulently obtained a new Ohio driver’s license and later a commercial driver’s license in 2007 under an alternate identity, and was later naturalized as a U.S. citizen under that same identity before changing his name back to Modou Ngom in 2015.

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Wilson said he directed state investigators to turn the information over to Homeland Security Investigations Immigration and Customs Enforcement for further investigation. He said the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio and the Delaware County Prosecutor’s Office were also notified.

Fox News Digital reached out to ICE.

LISTEN: 911 call captures fiery horror after driver allegedly used fake identity to get CDL

The crash itself unfolded in chaos, according to a 911 call and dispatch records obtained by Fox News.

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“People are stuck in the car,” one caller told dispatchers as flames spread.

Another voice on the call said, “They’re definitely dead. The fire is, like, huge,” while callers reported that multiple vehicles and the semi were burning.

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“A lot of people are out of their vehicles and stopped in the middle of the highway,” another female caller is heard telling the dispatcher. “Like, it’s pretty bad.

Lynnea and Luke Soposki, and their 1-year-old son, Logan

The Columbus Dispatch identified the victims as Luke and Lynnea Soposki and their baby Logan. Lynnea was a veterinarian and Luke was a analytical chemist.

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“Dr. Soposki was an extraordinary veterinarian, a compassionate caregiver, and a deeply valued member of our team,” the Muirfield Animal Hospital said. “She brought kindness, dedication, and a genuine love for her patients and their families into every interaction.”

Ngom was jailed after the crash on vehicular homicide charges, according to police. He was indicted by a Delaware County grand jury on the seven felony charges April 16.

  

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WATCH: Police officer cheats death when bullet ricochets off body camera during savage ambush by armed suspect

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New video captured the horrifying moment a Florida police officer’s body camera stopped a bullet from piercing his chest while conducting a routine investigation last month. 

The incident unfolded when Deputy Jose Rivera and his deputy trainee responded to a call regarding an assault and battery investigation at a home in Volusia County on Sunday, March 1, according to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office. 

Upon arriving at the home, the deputies encountered the suspect, identified as Luis Diaz Polanco, police said. 

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Luis Diaz Polanco firing a gun outside a home in Volusia County Florida

While trying to speak with Polanco, he allegedly went back into the house and returned with a handgun before he allegedly started firing at the officers, according to authorities. 

Rivera was subsequently struck in the leg and shoulder “after a round ricocheted off of his chest-mounted body-worn camera,” the department said.

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Video shows the shootout and the aftermath, including fellow deputies pulling a bloodied Rivera to safety and applying tourniquets. 

Deputy Jose Rivera receiving a tourniquet from police in Volusia County

Rivera, a father of three, is then placed into the back of a police car and transported to a hospital, where he is expected to make a full recovery.

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Additional video shows Polanco on the ground with his hands behind his back as police take him into custody. 

He was later charged with attempted murder, according to police.

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body camera and police uniform

While in custody, Polanco allegedly told police he had a “horrible day” before the shooting and was previously involved in a confrontation with an unidentified woman, Sheriff Mike Chitwood said in a news conference. 

“When the deputies came up to the house, [Polanco] had every intention to shoot them,” Chitwood said, adding a direct quote from the suspect, “‘If I didn’t run out of ammunition, I would have killed them all.’”

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Polanco allegedly told officers he was experiencing a mental health crisis at the time of the alleged incident. 

The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office shared a photo on social media showing the damaged body camera that stopped the bullet from hitting Rivera in the chest, with the caption, “Deputy Rivera’s body cam took a bullet headed for his chest. His fellow deputies pulled him to safety. Thank God for that.”

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“There’s a lot of scumbags out there that have a lot of things to say,” Chitwood said. “What they did, what those deputies did, was absolutely outstanding. It was bravery, there was restraint involved. They did everything you could ever ask a law enforcement professional to do.” 

The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

  

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Man pleads guilty to stealing over $1M in PPP loans for supposed amateur basketball league

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FIRST ON FOX: A man who used government loans meant to provide financial relief to small businesses pleaded guilty to defrauding taxpayers of more than $1 million for a company he claimed operated an amateur basketball league, authorities said.

Jamar Johnson, a U.S. citizen, entered his plea on Monday for his role in a scheme that netted him $1,047,824 in taxpayer funds through the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said.

“Jamar J. Johnson exploited a critical pandemic relief program for personal gain, stealing more than $1 million meant to support American small businesses when they needed it most,” said acting DHS Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis. 

“This guilty plea sends a clear message: Those who defraud the American people and attempt to hide their crimes will be identified, investigated and held accountable. DHS remains committed to protecting taxpayer-funded programs and ensuring justice for those who abuse them.”

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Jamar Johnson and a PPP loan application

In 2020, Johnson submitted a PPP loan application for a company he said ran an amateur league. However, once the funds were disbursed, Johnson used the money to fund his lifestyle, including purchasing cryptocurrency and transferring the funds to foreign markets in an effort to conceal the illicit proceeds.

In addition to depriving the government, the scam also hurt small businesses that needed access to government funds to avoid shutting their doors and laying off employees at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, DHS said.

“Fraud of this nature weakens the effectiveness of federal assistance programs and places an additional burden on taxpayers who ultimately bear the cost of these crimes,” the department said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), which operates under DHS, has authority over certain financial crimes and was involved in the investigation that ultimately led to Johnson’s guilty plea.

SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler speaking at a news conference flanked by Rep. Tom Emmer and Speaker Mike Johnson

The federal government has cracked down on the massive scale of fraud stemming from the PPP loans.

The plea announcement comes as the U.S. Small Business Administration on Friday separately referred 562,000 suspected fraudulent loans totaling over $22.2 billion to the U.S. Department of Treasury for collections. 

“After extensive review, and with the strong support of the White House Anti-Fraud Task Force, we are taking our most decisive action yet to end a Biden-era scheme that protected over 560,000 borrowers tied to more than $22 billion in suspected pandemic-era fraud,” SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler told Fox News Digital.

The SBA accused former President Joe Biden of deliberately protecting suspected fraudsters by refusing to refer them to the Treasury.

In February, the SBA suspended more than 111,000 California borrowers after uncovering $8.6 billion in suspected fraudulent activity linked to the pandemic. In total, the agency suspended 111,620 California borrowers who received 118,489 PPP and Economic Injury Disaster (EIDL) loans, totaling $8.6 billion.

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“This staggering number represents the most significant crackdown on those who defrauded pandemic programs, and it illuminates the scale of corruption that the Biden administration tolerated for years,” Loeffler said at the time.

  

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Elizabeth Smart flexes new chapter, racks up bodybuilding honors in stunning transformation

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Elizabeth Smart is proving she can conquer another challenge after new photos shared by the kidnapping survivor show her taking up a powerful new hobby — bodybuilding. 

The 38-year-old Smart, whose harrowing kidnapping story captivated the nation, announced her latest endeavor on Instagram over the weekend with a photo showing off her impressive physique.

“When I posted the pictures in my [Instagram] story of me standing on stage in a bikini it probably shocked many of you,” Smart wrote. 

“And I understand the shock because had you asked me if I would ever compete in a bodybuilding show a couple of years ago I would have said, ‘Absolutely not! Never in 100 years!’”

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Elizabeth Smart standing and smiling in a bodybuilding competition setting

Smart participated alongside hundreds of amateur athletes at the Wasatch Warrior Competition in Salt Lake City, Utah, Saturday and competed in the entry-level Fit Model Division.

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Elizabeth Smart posing on stage at the Wasatch Warrior Competition in Salt Lake City Utah

She secured first place in the competition’s novice category, second in Class D and third in the Masters 35-plus category, according to the tournament’s website. 

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Elizabeth Smart posing at the Wasatch Warrior Competition in Salt Lake City Utah
Elizabeth Smart posing on stage at the Wasatch Warrior Competition in Salt Lake City Utah

“I am so proud of my body, and I want to celebrate it,” Smart added. 

“My body has carried me through every worst day, every hellish grueling experience, it’s created and nurtured three beautiful children, my body has risen to every single challenge life has presented it with and carried me through so I refuse to be ashamed of it.”

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Smart was just 14 years old when she was abducted from her family’s Salt Lake City home in 2002. 

Investigators subsequently learned she had been kidnapped at knifepoint and taken from her bedroom by Brian David Mitchell and his wife, Wanda Barzee.

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Smart was held captive by the pair for nine months, moving between campsites in the Utah foothills and later to California while being raped daily by Mitchell. 

In March 2003, authorities located Smart in Sandy, Utah, after witnesses recognized Mitchell and Barzee from media coverage in the case.

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Mitchell was later convicted in federal court and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. 

Barzee pleaded guilty to her role in Smart’s abduction and was released from prison in 2018 but was arrested a second time in May 2025 after violating the terms of her sex offender status by visiting a public park, according to FOX 11.

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Smart’s competition marked one year since her first time taking the stage at the same tournament. Throughout the past year, she has reportedly competed at the NPC Heart of Texas and moved on to the national stage at the NPC Masters USA in Las Vegas in pursuit of an IFBB Pro card.

“I refuse to feel embarrassed about trying something new and am embracing my chance at life to the absolute fullest I can,” Smart concluded in her post to social media. “I only hope that we all find the courage to chase new experiences, goals, bettering ourselves, and most importantly happiness.”

  

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